New York-based painter, Stacie Maya Johnson, presents a series of new, modest sized abstract works. The qualities of Johnson's paintings include obvious shapes and colors that might recall, in her own words, “kids design” as well as kids crafts projects that she works on with her daughter, Willa. The shapes are based on items she finds...
New York-based painter, Stacie Maya Johnson, presents a series of new, modest sized abstract works. The qualities of Johnson’s paintings include obvious shapes and colors that might recall, in her own words, “kids design” as well as kids crafts projects that she works on with her daughter, Willa. The shapes are based on items she finds in her studio and that are readily traceable. “Spills and scribbles are just as useful to the process as are cut pieces of colored construction paper,” she explains. ”Sometimes I use string to lay out a particular curve.” The colors vibrate against one another, pushing and pulling at space. Viewing the work becomes a visual game as the viewer’s eyes bounce around the painting, seeking what is and isn’t in balance.
Stacie Maya Johnson was born in Iowa and lives and works in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois in Chicago and is completing a Masters degree in Urban Policy at Hunter College. She has held recent exhibitions at Elijah Wheat Showroom, Brooklyn, NY; The Times Club Gallery, Iowa City, IA; Couples Counseling, Ridgewood, Queens; Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA; and The Pit, Los Angeles, CA.
